Bound For Other Ports

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I need to finish my Annapurna trek stories. Here was our itinerary for those who have maybe done this trek before:

Day 1: Phedi to Tolka
Day 2: Tolka to Chhomrong
Day 3: Chhomrong to Bamboo
Day 4: Bamboo to Deurali
Day 5: Deurali
Day 6: Deurali to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)
Day 7: ABC to Himalaya
Day 8: Himalaya to Chhomrong
Day 9: Chhomrong and out

The first three days were overcast and raining on and off. I was still sweating my you know what off. It was dripping off my nose like a leaky faucet. Its amazing to think that I was going to be in snow in a few days, but that I was still in tropical rain forest sweating myself to nothing. Everyone at home now says I’m so skinny. But I know I wasn’t this skinny before the trek.

And to be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the first few days of trekking. All the stairs made it quite terrible. I was a little baby. I don’t think I complained that much (at least I hope I didn’t), but I wasn’t very happy either. But hey, the slower you go the more you see, right? And to top it all off, I got blisters on both feet on day one. My boots were good, but I think my socks were to big…

On day four we were in Deurali. The next stop was Annapurna Base Camp. Only one problem: it poured rain all night and into the day (day five) we were supposed to head up. All the creek crossings were up and it was impossible to make it up without filling your boots with water. And getting washed down a waterfall is not a fun prospect as well. So we debated on going up or just chilling (literally in some ways) for the day. We decided to go. But then a guy said the way was closed. Then we learned the way wasn’t closed. Then we decided to chill anyways. And we’re glad we did. We watched the poor souls who had to trek down come through and they were soaked to the bone. They all had a cheery disposition, however. But I still felt sorry for them. They trekked all the way up to base camp and never got a view of the mountains. It would be like a Greek mythology hell; trek up a mountain and never see the view.

On day six, however, it cleared up. Beautiful blue skies, no clouds, perfect for trekking. We made our way up to ABC and stood in awesome wonder. It is simply amazing. I would try and describe it, but I know I cannot. We were surrounded by snow-laden mountains and in the shadow of the tenth highest peak in the world (26,545 feet). We were at around 13,500 feet. Annapurna I peak was nearly twice as high as we were! Incredible.

On the way to ABC we passed a porter who had died just the night before. He was headed down from ABC in the dark, in the cold, and got lost. Hypothermia set in (you could tell because he had taken all his clothes off except for his shirt) and he died, face down in a clump of grass next to the river. Somehow I did not see him. I saw his clothes in a pile, but did not realize they belonged to a person who just the previous day was still alive. I don’t know if he left behind a wife and children, but he most likely did…

The hike back down was fairly uneventful. It stayed clear for the most part. My blisters from day one were becoming infected, however, so we decided to hike out a day early. This meant a nine hour hike on the last day. It was a long day, to say the least. The outside of both of my big toes are still a bit numb (I have feeling, but they feel like they are slightly asleep) two weeks after. I think I might have permanent nerve damage in them. Or leprosy, one of the two.

When I got back to Pokhara and the hotel, I took my boots off for the last time only to find a giant blood stain on my sock. It seems that a leech found its way into my boot and took a few sips of my blood. It made its way back out without me knowing. What’s a good trek without a few leeches in your boots???

You can see the rest of my photos from the trek HERE.